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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Representation Matters

This week, Matt and I saw Love, Simon. A few weeks ago, we saw Black Panther, but as a white woman it's not really my place to speak to the power of a mainstream, popular, all-Black-cast film doing so well at the box-office or my delight in seeing it. I can't really speak to what it must have felt like as a Black person to experience that movie. (As a woman, though, it was incredibly powerful to see such strong, nuanced female characters on screen.)

When it comes to Love, Simon, though, there was a specific way the inclusivity and representation impacted me as a Jewish woman, so I wanted to write this.

Love, Simon is a typical teenage romantic-comedy. That's one thing that makes it so wonderful. Lots of LGBTQ+ films are emotionally taxing to watch. This is because the very real, valid struggles of the LGBTQ+ community are heavy and emotionally fraught, and they're centered in these movies. There is a place and a reason for movies that deal with the discrimination the community faces and the danger of coming out.

It is so important, though, to see that the "genre" of LGBTQ+ films can transcend itself and fall easily into a family-friendly (generally...except for some language maybe), funny, lighthearted teen flick. Don't get me wrong, I was moved to tears multiple times while I watched Love, Simon, but I laughed more than I cried.

The nuance of Simon's character is brilliantly done, too. I appreciated that when Simon mishandles situations, he's called out on it. He's not a perfect person; he's human.

We get to see some lovely moments of humanity from even just supporting characters, but we also get to see the vicious side of prejudice that still exists today.

Mostly, I was very impressed by how effortlessly intersectional the film was. It was clearly intentional, but it did not feel forced. Not only were multiple protagonists POC, but we also saw a couple mixed-race families/relationships and Jewish characters. (This seems like a small detail, but as a Jewish woman I honed in on it immediately and was really moved to see the lighting of a menorah on the big screen. I can't think of a non-Jewish-centered film that mentions Hanukkah or Judaism even once.)

Basically, Love, Simon was a fun teen romantic-comedy that dealt with some incredibly important issues surrounding coming out and also did a stellar job of representing what the world and high school actually look like, filled with people of different races, backgrounds, families, and circumstances. I can only imagine the impact this movie's success will have on kids, whether they're out or not. The LGBTQ+ community and their stories should be mainstream and easily accessible; people of all sexual identities should be included in movies to the point where films featuring main characters anywhere on the spectrum aren't a big deal.

It's important that this movie be successful. It's important that more movies like this are made. The best way to make sure that happens is to buy a ticket..and really, it'll be well worth it, because at the end of the day, it was a good two hours of entertainment.